3. Evan Tanner
Unfortunately Evan Tanner died a little over 3 years after winning the UFC Middleweight Championship. Tanner won the title by defeating David Terrell for the championship which had been vacated when Murilo Bustamante left the promotion to fight in Pride.
Tanner lost the title in his first defence to Rich Franklin at UFC 53, who defended it twice before dropping it to Anderson Silva.
After winning the title Tanner lost 4 of 5 fights before his death in August 2008.
